Throughout what became known as the Northern Ireland peace process and, subsequently, the political process the Queen has readily been on hand to lend symbolic support to the efforts of both governments and Northern Ireland’s political parties and factions as have the last two Irish heads of state.
But while both President Mary Robinson and President Mary McAleese were frequent guests of Queen Elizabeth the prospect of violence by dissident northern Irish terror groups has always weighed against any reciprocal visit.
Despite a handful of security alerts and televised scenes of protest by a couple of hundred masked agitators her visit was endorsed by the vast majority of Irish people and considered a welcome symbolic and optimistic distraction, not least by the government, from 15 per cent unemployment, resumed mass emigration and an unsustainable financial package from the European Union and International Monetary Fund necessitated by Dail Eireann’s bail-out of Ireland’s broken banking system.
In an itinerary replete with political symbolism she laid a wreath in honour of rebels who died fighting to break from the Crown but also took time to acknowledge those Irish who died fighting for the UK in the First World War but had been written out of modern Irish history until very recently.
Acknowledging the scars of the past also entailed a visit to Croke Park, the national stadium of the Gaelic Athletic Association which itself was used in a gesture of reconciliation a couple of years ago as it lifted the decades-old ban on “alien” sports such as rugby (Ireland’s rugby side is drawn from all 32 counties north and south of the border).
At a state dinner at the former seat of British power in Dublin Castle, the Queen gave a much anticipated speech that, rather than dwell on the past, sought to emphasise the common bonds, shared heritage and future of two nations who do more than £1 billion worth of trade every week, and share heritage with millions of their citizens.
British exports to Ireland exceed those to Brazil, Russia, India and China combined while at least six million British people are estimated to be eligible for Irish passports though a parent or grandparent.
